Shoe-fastener.



No. 820,132. PATBNTED MAY 8, 1906.

E. D. RITOHEY, JR! SHOE FASTENER.

APPLICATION FILED DOT 21, 1905.

fitment UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. EDWARD RITGHEY, JR, OF KAHOKA, MISSOURI.

SHOE-FASTENER- Specification of Letters Patent.

lc'atentecl May 8, 1906.

Application filed October 21, 1905. serial No. 283,861.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. RIToHEY, J r. a citizen of the United States, residing at Kahoka, in the county of Clark and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Fasteners, of which the following is a specification.

My invention comprises certain improvements in that class of shoe laces or fasteners that are adapted to hold the two uppers solid while the shoe is being made over a last and the object of my invention is to provide a fastener of this character which may be cheaply made and stamped out of sheet metal or similar material by one operation and which, while it securely holds the shoe solid while it is being made, may be easily removed therefrom when the last is to be withdrawn.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for efiecting the result reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention, showing the device in use. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device detached. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the blank from which the device may be formed. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My improved shoe fastener or lace comprises a single piece of sheet metal or similar material which may be stamped out by one operation to form the blank illustrated in Fig. 3, and which in its completed form assumes the shape illustrated in Fig. 2. The clamp comprises a plate 1, which is curved slightly from side to side, as shown, and it is provided at one of its edges with two end lugs 2, which are bent downwardly and outwardly to constitute hooks. From the opposite edge of the plate 1 and preferably at the middle thereof there projects a ton ue 3, which also extends downwardly an outwardly from the said plate and is provided at its outer end with two laterally-extending fingers 4, provided at their outer ends with upwardly outwardly extending hooks 5. The entire structure above described is formed, preferably, of one integral piece of metal or similar material.

In the practical use of the device after the lace has been inserted into the vamp of the shoe, as indicated in the drawings, the two hooks 2 are inserted in a downward direction in the opposite eyelets of the uppers contiguous to the vamp-line, allowing the broad part or plate 1 of the fastener to lie flat over the instep portion of the shoe. The laterally-extending cross-arms 4 are then each inserted underneath the adjacent edges of the uppers and their hooks take into the adjacent eyelets from one side thereof, so that their ends project upwardly through the eyelets and hold those portions of the uppers securely in place. When the hooks 5 are in the eyelets, as shown, they prevent the lugs 2 from becoming accidentally withdrawn, and the upper edge of the plate 1, as it is located over the hooks 5 and overlaps the uppers at that point, acts from the outside as a lock to hold the leather down on the hooks 5. To remove the fastener or lace, it is only necessary to pull up on the upper at one of the hooks 5 to retract same, and this will result in releasing that hook and remove the tension on the other hook, so that it may be slid out of the eyelet by a slight sidewise movement of the fastener. When both of the hooks 5 are withdrawn from their respective eyelets, the lace or fastener can then be removed readily, as the lugs or hooks 2 enter their eyelets from the outside.

While my improved lace or fastener is primarily designed for use in factories during the operation of making shoes, as before pointed out, it is obvious that it may also be used as a detachable form of fastener to retain the meeting edges of the uppers of a shoe in proper relation when the shoe is being worn, and it is to be understood that my invention covers this adaptation of the device also. It is manifest that the lace or fastener may be made in different sizes to correspond with the diflerent sizes of shoes.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. A device of the character described, provided at one end with downwardly and outwardly extending lugs designed to be inserted in the eyelets of shoe-uppers near the vamp of the shoe and also provided at its opposite end with upwardly and laterally extending hooks designed to be inserted in opposite eyelets of the uppers from underneath the same so as to project upwardly through said eyelets.

2. A device of the character described,

comprising a plate provided at one edgewith downwardly and outwardly extending lugs and provided at its other edge with a tongue formed with lateral arms, said arms being formed with upwardly and outwardly extending hooks, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a .plate provided at one edge with downwardly and outwardly extending lugs designed to be inserted in a downward direction in two opposite eyelets of shoe-uppers near the vamp of the shoe and said plate being arranged to lie over and upon the two flaps of the uppers, said plate being also pro- Vided at its opposite edge with two lateral upwardly-extending hooks designed to be inserted through opposite eyelets in the uppers from underneath the same and projected upwardly through said eyelets.

4. A device of the character described comprising a single integral piece of metal or the like embodying a transversely-curved plate provided at one edge with downwardly and outwardly extending lugs and at its opposite edge with a tongue 'having laterally-extending hooks thereon.

5. A device of the character described comprising a single integral piece of metal or the like embodying a transversely-curved plate provided at one end with downwardly and outwardly extending lugs and at its opposite end with a downwardly and outwardly extending tongue having laterally-extending hooks thereon.

6. A device of the character described com prising a plate provided at one end with downwardly and outwardly extending lugs andat its opposite end with a downwardly and outwardly extending tongue having lateral arms thereon, said arms being provided with upwardly and outwardly facing hooks.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD D. RITCHEY, JR. [1.. s]

Witnesses:

H. W. DAVIS, ELIZABETH THOMPSON. 

